Lilly Berberyan

Department of English
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
1111 Spring Garden Street
Greensboro, NC 27412
L_Berber@uncg.edu
LillyBerberyan.com
EDUCATION
Ph.D. in English Literature, expected May 2017
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC
Dissertation: (Dis)Obedient Wives: Representations of Gendered Agency in Early Modern City Comedies
Dissertation Committee: Michelle Dowd (director), Jennifer Feather, Jennifer Keith
My dissertation project interrogates two principal questions: What forms of agency are available to women of
the middling sort in early modern city plays? And how do we, as scholars, identify and recognize dramatic
representations of female agency? Throughout this project, I blend theories of agency and early modern
materialist criticism to discuss non-archetypal forms of female agency within the framework of dramatic
literature; the theatrical manifestations of early modern London imagine intriguing possibilities for female
agency of the middling sort. I delineate and discuss three models of agencydefiant, subversive, and
acquiescentthrough an examination of exemplary city comedies from Jonson, Dekker, Middleton, and
Shakespeare. This corpus of texts enables the consideration of forms of agency that are manifested through
the female characters obedience rather than defiance of societal expectations. The relative success of these
models of agency is frequently contingent upon communal, spatial, and temporal factors. The power these
characters obtain is frequently temporary; the setting of the play can influence how easily the characters can
obtain agency or render the womens attainment of power impossible. Finally, agency is often results from
the womens negotiation of societal standards as a group: Chaste and obedient behavior becomes standard
for all characters. In this project highlight manifestations of female power that are largely under-studied and
demonstrate how moments of seeming obedience can turn into opportunities for power for the characters I
examine.
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Womens and Gender Studies, May 2017
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC
M.A. in English Literature, 2010
Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA
B.A. in English Literature, 2006
University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS
Renaissance literature, Jacobean city comedies, womens and gender studies, theories of subjectivity and
agency
PUBLICATIONS
Stolen Rings and Sleepwalking: Domestic Work, Spectacle, and Female Agency in Northward Ho. Article
under review.

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FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS

College of Arts and Sciences Bernard Dissertation Fellowship, University of North Carolina at
Greensboro, 2016-2017
Highly competitive dissertation grant through a nomination by the English Department Graduate
Studies Committee. Competition open to all doctoral candidates within the largest college at UNCG.
Atlantic World Research Network Graduate Research Prize, University of North Carolina at
Greensboro, April 2013
Competitive award based on essay submission.
Greensboro Graduate Scholar Award, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, August 2012-May
2015
Three-year, renewable grant awarded on the basis of academic merit to graduate students. Competition
open to all graduate students within UNCG.
Neda Loop Best Masters Comprehensive Examination Award, Loyola Marymount University, April
2010
Departmental award given to student with best performance on the written portion of Masters
Comprehensive Examination. Selection committee includes Director of Graduate Studies and Graduate
faculty.
Alpha Sigma Nu Honor Society, Loyola Marymount University, inducted April 2010
Induction based on academic merit and community service commitment.
Conference Travel Awards:
Lenses Travel Award, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, March 2016
Graduate Student Association Conference Travel Grant, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, March
2014
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC
Graduate Teaching Assistant, 2012-Present
Instructor of Record:
English 101College Writing I: Writing course designed to introduce incoming freshmen to writing processes
and rhetorical foundations. Course focused on methods of analysis of visual media, including
documentaries, print advertisements, and TED Talks. I adapted the course for a 5-week, online format; my
syllabus for the online format was included in the departmental syllabus handbook for Teaching Assistants.
English 104Approach to Literature: Introductory level literature course that examines formal conventions of
literature. Students read poetry, drama, short stories, and novels that have at some point been banned by
schools in the US to discuss the impact of literature. In a Writing Intensive version of the course, students
had to submit weekly responses that helped exercise critical and analytical skills.
English 105Introduction to Narrative: Introductory literature course that examines conventions of narratives
in fiction. Students read short stories and novels, including Frankenstein, Winesburg, Ohio, and Persepolis to
discuss how the works represent how the individual is shaped by the society they live in.

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English 107Introduction to Drama: Survey course of British and American Drama. Students read a range of
plays including Oedipus Rex, Hamlet, God of Carnage, and Raisin in the Sun to examine questions of destiny and
fate. Students had to work in groups to produce infographics for each play that examined spatial relations
with the play.
English 108Topics in British Literature: Course readings included literary works from various genres,
including Utopia, Hero and Leander, King Lear, Twelfth Night, and selections from Paradise Lost to examine
representations of family and kinship in early modern literature.
English 109Introduction to Shakespeare: Intensive study of Shakespeare through selected sonnets and plays of
various genres, including Midsummer Nights Dream, Merchant of Venice, 1 Henry 4, Titus Andronicus, and
Macbeth. Class discussions of plays were supplemented by filmed performances and actors commentary to
enable a well-rounded understanding and analysis of the works.
FMS 120Freshmen Seminar: Literature. Writing-intensive literature course open to incoming Freshmen.
Course readings included drama, prose, and poetry that examined the life and cult of Queen Elizabeth, as
well as her cultural afterlife. Texts included historical documents (such as letters and Parliamentary records),
sonnets by Elizabethan poets, selections from Faerie Queene, Merry Wives of Windsor, and scholarly essays. In
addition to course readings, students were able to examine cinematic depictions of Queen Elizabeth, as well
as archival materials to analyze the cultural impact of Queen Elizabeth.
Teaching Intern:
English 340Late Shakespeare: Interned with Dr. Michelle Dowd in an upper-division course open to both
majors and non-majors. Responsibilities included collaborating on lesson plans and course design,
evaluating student work, and teaching a unit on Measure for Measure.
Writing Center Consultant:
Worked with walk-in students on any stage of the writing process; had weekly sessions with advanced
students working on dissertations and theses.
Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA
Adjunct Lecturer, 2010-2011
Teaching Fellow, 2009-2010
Instructor of Record:
English 110Freshman Composition
English 150Introduction to Drama

CONFERENCE PAPERS
Here Comes Our Gossips Now: Notions of Selfhood and Agency in Thomas Middletons A Chaste Maid in
Cheapside. Shakespeare Association of America, New Orleans, LA, March 2016.
Destructible Docile Bodies: Foucauldian Notions of Military Rule in Shakespeares Titus Andronicus.
Renaissance Society of America, New York, March 2014.

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INVITED LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS

Workshop Coordinator and Presenter: Using Digital Tools in the Classsroom: Incorporating Multimodal
Digital Assignments in Online Courses. For UNCG Faculty (UTLC), Spring 2017.
Workshop Coordinator and Presenter: Working with Augmented, Virtual, and Mixed Realities: Spatial
Consideration For UNCG Digital ACT Studio Consultants, Spring 2017.
(Dis)Obedient Wives: Gender and Power in Early Modern City Comedies. Meredith College, Raleigh, NC,
April 6, 2016.
Paradise Lost, Book 3. English 211(British Authors: Medieval- Eighteenth Century), Dr. Jennifer Keith.
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, March 21, 2016.

DIGITAL HUMANITIES PROJECTS

Chaste Maid in Cheapside: Diplomatic Transcription. Under Review. Map of Early Modern London, University of
Victoria.
IN-HOUSE PUBLICATIONS
Understanding Tone and Voice. Rhetorical Approaches to College Writing. Eds. Lavina Ensor, Chelsea Atkins
Skelley, Kathleen T. Leuschen. Plymouth, MI: Hayden-McNeil Publishing, 2014. 81-85.

SERVICE
Composition Program Portfolio Scoring Participant, May 2016
First-Year Graduate Teaching Assistant Mentor, 2014 2016
Elected Graduate Student Representative for Department Faculty Meetings, University of North Carolina at
Greensboro, 2013 - 2014
Graduate Research Assistant, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, 2008 2009

EDITORIAL EXPERIENCE
Head Editor, Rhetorical Approaches to College Writing, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2016 2017
Collaborated with Assistant Editors to edit and publish a new edition of Rhetorical Approaches to College Writing, a
UNCG-sponsored publication used for all first-year composition courses. Responsibilities include working with
Writing Program Administrator and publisher, soliciting new chapters, and reviewing and copyediting the final
manuscript.
Assistant Editor, Rhetorical Approaches to College Writing, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2015
2016

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Collaborated with Head Editor to edit a new edition of Rhetorical Approaches to College Writing. Responsibilities
included soliciting new chapters for publication, working with writers through the composing process. The
editorial team edited two existing chapters and added eight new chapters to the textbook.
Executive Editor, The Truth About the Fact: Literary Journal of Non-Fiction, Loyola Marymount University, 2009
2010
Responsibilities included soliciting non-fiction stories, poetry, and photography, collaborated with editorial
board to make selections for publication, organized launch events, and publicized the journal through local
media outlets.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Modern Languages Association
Renaissance Society of America
Shakespeare Association of America

LANGUAGES
Armenian: Native Fluency
Russian: Native Fluency

REFERENCES
Michelle Dowd, Ph.D.
Hudson Strode Professor of English
Director of the Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies
The University of Alabama
237 Morgan Hall
Box 870244
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
mmdowd1@ua.edu
Jennifer Feather, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Director of Graduate Studies
UNC Greensboro
3110 MHRA
1111 Spring Garden Street
Greensboro, NC 27412
jennifer_feather@uncg.edu
Jennifer Keith, Ph.D.
Professor
UNC Greensboro
3322 MHRA
1111 Spring Garden Street
Greensboro, NC 27412
jmkeith@uncg.edu